547 Learning Makes One Happy (1/2)

Three weeks later, the steel workshop had expanded to twice its original size.

The scaffolding embedded in the cliff were like weeds clumped together. The giant nails wedged into the stone were holding heavy steel cables, arranged into a spider-web-like structure, in place. Heat insulating felt cloths were suspended layer by layer from the cables, forming a huge greenhouse.

Heavy rain poured from the sky, and fell on the felt cloth, causing it to evaporate and rise into the sky again in a thick fog of steam, only to condense and fell as water droplets again upon encountering the cold air above. Cold fog and hot air met in the sky, strangling each other. Finally, they blended together, forming layers of sickly white clouds.

It was as if hundreds of iron furnaces were working at the same time, or as if lava had broken through the crust of the earth and was flowing over the ground. An appalling amount of heat were constantly spreading out from the workshop.

The viscous and scorching air escaped from the valves on the door with a rotten stench.

It was like the breath of living things.

”Is it really alright to build a ship this way?” Igor stood on top of the cliff and looked down, his gaze fixed on the covered workshop. No matter how many times he had heard the explanation, he still felt incredulous, as the production method employed was truly beyond his imagination.

”The current stage of our industrial development is not advanced enough to produce such a massive thing the conventional way, so we could only do it in an alternative manner.” Carol, who had been appointed as the chief engineer, held his umbrella as he looked down and observed his work. He said, ”Now the entire port and anywhere less than five hundred meters from it are within the radiation range of the alchemy reactions.

”An alchemical reactor of such a gigantic size would cost as much as half the national treasury and would take more than ten years to manufacture. ”Furthermore, it can only be used once, as it would be destroyed in the process, and it has to be recycled as waste after that. The whole process requires more than a hundred alchemists to collaborate, using up countless materials and funds. ”We do not have so much capital and time to waste.

”It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be blessed with such favorable conditions, Captain Igor, we must keep everything simple. ”

”This is considered simple?” Igor was shocked.

He squatted on the edge of the cliff, then lay down to look at the huge workshop more closely.

Under the cover of the heat-insulating felt cloths, the workshop was like a monster of a gray-black color lying on the harbor of refuge, crawling and rolling around in gluey motions, convulsing in the rain as if it was alive, but also abhorrently ugly.

So ugly that it looked terrifying.

Five days ago, the musicians of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith removed the entire harbor of refuge, then built a dam at the estuary, turning whole entire port into an enclosed, bowl-like structure.

The 'bowl' was covered, and only a warm murky stream of water spewed out steadily from the dam. The turbid water containing alchemical elixirs and toxic metals exuded a pungent stench, staining the black ocean water white.

The hull was being manufactured in it.

As the organization that had inherited the legacy of the Religious Court of Inquiry, developing various methods to utilize demons was almost instinctual to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Plus, many demons themselves were excellent raw materials. With such a precious resource like the Mountain of Nomadism, they couldn't possibly let it rot and spoil.

The development plan, which seemed budget-conscious to most, was considered imprudent by the old devils of the Court who had gotten used to being thrifty.

If the Congregation had a complete industrial system and enough supporting resources, they definitely wouldn't agree to such insanity of wasting the huge piece of precious material on a goddamn ship.

”In some sense, it cannot be considered a ship at all.” Carol said, ”We are just utilizing the resources at hand to as best we can, leveraging the molecular activeness of the Mountain of Nomadism's flesh to grow it into a ship.

”If we have enough resources and time, it's even possible to create a ship that can fly in the sky forever, occupying the sky like the winged people... Damn, those bastards not only monopolize the resources of the star belt, but also deny us access to the deep sky...”

”For me, having a boat in itself is more than enough, Mr. Carol,” Igor interrupted.

He sniffed the pungent smell coming from the workshop, looking intoxicated. ”I don't give a shit about whether it's alive or dead, or whether it's the child of catastrophes. I'm happy as long as it is a ship and I can sail it. Of course, it'll be even better if it can take down a legendary warship in one go.”

He wanted to witness the process in the core of the workshop, but it was a pity as there was no way he could get close to it.

The interior of the workshop had been transformed into a petri dish that was super enormous in size. A dense forest consisting of large quantity of fungi toxic to humans grew in it. Lethal toxic gases and corrosive alchemical materials were everywhere.